Lucknow: Some officials were seen forcefully sanitising a group of migrants Monday with ‘chemicals’ which later on turned out to be bleach. The incident occurred in Bareilly district – about 270km from Lucknow. The batch of migrants had returned to UP over the weekend after special buses were arranged for them. Among those watching the ‘disinfecting’ are some policemen.
The incident prompted the apex child rights body NCPCR to demand disciplinary and penal action against officials responsible for this. The Congress and other opposition parties also demanded action on such behaviour.
The video of the entire incident has gone viral and has drawn widespread flak from all across the country.
A man can be heard saying in the clip: “Apni aankhen band kar lo. Bacchon ki aankhen band kar lo (please shut your eyes, also close eyes of the kids).”
After the clip led to criticism of the district administration, an official explained that chemicals were not used. “The migrants were sprayed with a mix of chlorine and water. No chemical solution was used. We asked them to keep their eyes shut,” the official said.
“We did not mean to be inhuman… It was important to sanitise everyone and there was a huge rush as large number of people had returned. So we did what we thought was best and used the mixture of chlorine and water as disinfectant,” the official added.
Agencies